Sunday Night Draft Champions Express Thread

[ALL-IN JD]

Thanks Mark. Still need some of the closer spec plays to work out.

[Money]

Mark,

I don't profess to know much about this format, but it seems like a long ways back with the starting pitchers. You have the anchor, but I see a tough time with that staff.

Hi Joe, so basically you see my staff as this:

What a Great post, but yes that sums it up, which probably means you win the overall

[Gekko]

What a Great post, but yes that sums it up, which probably means you win the overall

LOL like i said i wish i had a better stable of SP. i'll try to do better next time

[Mudster]

What a Great post, but yes that sums it up, which probably means you win the overall

LOL like i said i wish i had a better stable of SP. i'll try to do better next time

Played properly, which reputation says it will be, your staff is fine....not sure why you didn't go after robertson's immediate backups or possible FA replacements though....

[Deadheadz]

listen - two teams can already be ruled out of money contention. team 1 (went on auto for some reason) and your team

My team projects ahead of your in pitching and power numbers. Are your 15 points in SB gonna crush me?

[Gekko]

not sure why you didn't go after robertson's immediate backups or possible FA replacements though....

immediate backups or possible FA replacements? it could be one of 20 guys. pass

[Mudster]

not sure why you didn't go after robertson's immediate backups or possible FA replacements though....

immediate backups or possible FA replacements? it could be one of 20 guys. pass

I grabbed three which have a chance, but still think if robertson doesn't get the job done, Papelbon is a Yankee by all star break

[NorCalAtlFan]

what an exhausting draft! fun though!

should be a tough league

[ikenbaseball]

Deadheadz

I am curious about your strategy for this draft.

You stocked up on 1st baseman, yet neglected your catcher position. It looks like you have Stephen Vogt and Adrian Nieto as your starters.

If you could take the time to explain, I would appreciate it.

Thanks

Krys

[Gekko]

My team projects ahead of your in pitching and power numbers. Are your 15 points in SB gonna crush me?

[Gekko]

not sure why you didn't go after robertson's immediate backups or possible FA replacements though....

immediate backups or possible FA replacements? it could be one of 20 guys. pass

I grabbed three which have a chance, but still think if robertson doesn't get the job done, Papelbon is a Yankee by all star break

maybe so, but you can play that game with most closers. i don't see any need wasting earlier roster slots on guys who "might be" second in line. maybe in the 40's, but then i'm always trying to fill in my other needs

[Gekko]

deadhead, u are a good sport. and in all honesty, who the hell knows what is going to happen this year. look at all the players that weren't on anyones radar last year that busted out.

[Deadheadz]

Deadheadz

I am curious about your strategy for this draft.

You stocked up on 1st baseman, yet neglected your catcher position. It looks like you have Stephen Vogt and Adrian Nieto as your starters.

If you could take the time to explain, I would appreciate it.

Thanks

Krys

I'm going to spend the season watching for Sal Perez to go on the DL. The WhiteSox are about as weak at catcher as I am but since Nieto is a Rule 5 guy they've got to keep him on the roster so he may get the majority of the PT if the others there don't impress.
While Gattis is a catcher in Fantasy, I really don't think he or Doumit will actually play the position all that often unless BJ Upton returns to his former glory. I'll be starting my season with Nieto and Laird at catcher which won't help me much at all but their numbers will not hurt me the way someone like a Jesus Montero or Ryan Lavarnway might. Vogt and Hayes may not play at all this season but if they do, I will slot them in for a minor boost.

Hope that answers some of your questions but I know it doesn't seem like there's much upside.

[Deadheadz]

deadhead, u are a good sport. and in all honesty, who the hell knows what is going to happen this year. look at all the players that weren't on anyones radar last year that busted out.

Too true.
I've read books on poker strategy that say some of the top players you see on TV use a strategy of telling other players how awful they play and how they don't stand a chance, just to put doubt and uncertainty into their minds. While I know you and others truly believe I'm putting together bad teams, I don't take it personally that you target me for your barbs.

"It's all in tha game, yo." - Omar Little, The Wire

[ikenbaseball]

Deadheadz,

Thanks for your honest answer. I feel like you provide some interesting insight.

Krys

[Deadheadz]

Deadheadz,

Thanks for your honest answer. I feel like you provide some interesting insight.

Krys

I do like some of the higher end catchers. One of my DC teams has Posey, Santana and Mauer on it. Another has just Posey and Mauer.

McCann was my target in this one but I didn't get him and put a higher priority on my team plan than being distracted by not getting my target.
Where I took Prado (for apparent value IMO) maybe I should have been seeing what other catchers were out there. Arencibia was my second choice much later but someone reeeeeeached for JP.

The catcher listed as OF that I mentioned in chat is Matt McBride. I was going to take him in round 50 but instead took a prospect speed guy.

[morons]

Great time in the DC Express Draft tonight, even with a few do-over picks....

My Team from spot #10:

C: Tweedle-Dee
C: Tweedle-Dum
1B..Mike Napoli
2B..Brandon Phillips
3B..Brett Lawrie
SS..Jean Segura
CI..Corey Hart
MI..Jonathan Villar
OF..Jacoby Ellsbury
Yoenis Cespedes
Curtis Granderson
Michael Morse
Josh Reddick
UT...Oswaldo Arcia

Bench hitters- Carp, Konerko, Alex Guerrero, Semien, Dyson, Soler, RLiriano, Amador, Seth Smith, a few more crummy catchers, and the backup SS for Segura and Villar

SP...Max Scherzer
Justin Verlander
Gio Gonzalez
Sonny Gray
Clay Buchholz
Willy Peralta
Erasmo Ramirez
Jameson Tailon
Jennry Mejia
Felipe Paulino
Colby Lewis
Suk-min Yoon
Jonathan Gray

RP..Koji Uehera
Sergio Romo
Josh Fields
Cody Allen
Pedro Strop
Joakim Soria
Drew Storen
Santiago Casilla
Brian Shaw
Ronald Belisario

I punted Catcher. I had targeted Posey 3rd round, but when I saw Scherzer there still, I couldn't pass on him. I thought the price was too high for C in this draft for what they give you. Top tier guys went a round or two earlier than other drafts. Thus, I have Johnny Bench, Mike Piazza, Gary Carter, Lance Parrish, and Todd Hundley as my C.

I think my offense is decent in spite of 2 stiffs at C. AVE will probably be lower than I'd like as I took a few free-swinger K guys- and thus I didn't want 2 more crummy C that would hit .225 with a ton of AB. I could be middle-of-pack in HR and RBI even though I didn't go power early, maybe better if guys like Granderson, Morse, and Reddick have good bounce-back seasons......... I think I have more SB potential than most of the teams in this league.

I like my SP, other than they are mostly AL guys. I have a decent start to the bullpen with Uehera and Romo. I kept trying to get a 3rd RP, but I thought they went fast too and I couldn't bring myself to use an early-teen pick on questionable and mediocre closer specimens when there were better SP and hitters left......So, plan B was to get some guys who my fall into saves as part of a bullpen-by-committee. I think Rangers, Cubs, Orioles, Indians, W-Sox, and Astros have the 6 shakiest pens and either don't have a closer in place or the guy who is the "closer" is weak and unlikely to last all year, so I tried to grab a few "next in line for saves guys" and came up with Fields, Soria, Allen, and Strop.

I think there are several solid teams in this league. It also seems that the "hype breakout" guys keep climbing up the draft board....I'm having flashbacks to 2012 when folks were taking Eric Hosmer and Brett Lawrie in the second round....

Best of luck everyone....See you guys in Vegas next month

[Lunatic]

Great time in the DC Express Draft tonight, even with a few do-over picks....

My Team from spot #10:

C: Tweedle-Dee
C: Tweedle-Dum
1B..Mike Napoli
2B..Brandon Phillips
3B..Brett Lawrie
SS..Jean Segura
CI..Corey Hart
MI..Jonathan Villar
OF..Jacoby Ellsbury
Yoenis Cespedes
Curtis Granderson
Michael Morse
Josh Reddick
UT...Oswaldo Arcia

Bench hitters- Carp, Konerko, Alex Guerrero, Semien, Dyson, Soler, RLiriano, Amador, Seth Smith, a few more crummy catchers, and the backup SS for Segura and Villar

SP...Max Scherzer
Justin Verlander
Gio Gonzalez
Sonny Gray
Clay Buchholz
Willy Peralta
Erasmo Ramirez
Jameson Tailon
Jennry Mejia
Felipe Paulino
Colby Lewis
Suk-min Yoon
Jonathan Gray

RP..Koji Uehera
Sergio Romo
Josh Fields
Cody Allen
Pedro Strop
Joakim Soria
Drew Storen
Santiago Casilla
Brian Shaw
Ronald Belisario

I punted Catcher. I had targeted Posey 3rd round, but when I saw Scherzer there still, I couldn't pass on him. I thought the price was too high for C in this draft for what they give you. Top tier guys went a round or two earlier than other drafts. Thus, I have Johnny Bench, Mike Piazza, Gary Carter, Lance Parrish, and Todd Hundley as my C.

I think my offense is decent in spite of 2 stiffs at C. AVE will probably be lower than I'd like as I took a few free-swinger K guys- and thus I didn't want 2 more crummy C that would hit .225 with a ton of AB. I could be middle-of-pack in HR and RBI even though I didn't go power early, maybe better if guys like Granderson, Morse, and Reddick have good bounce-back seasons......... I think I have more SB potential than most of the teams in this league.

I like my SP, other than they are mostly AL guys. I have a decent start to the bullpen with Uehera and Romo. I kept trying to get a 3rd RP, but I thought they went fast too and I couldn't bring myself to use an early-teen pick on questionable and mediocre closer specimens when there were better SP and hitters left......So, plan B was to get some guys who my fall into saves as part of a bullpen-by-committee. I think Rangers, Cubs, Orioles, Indians, W-Sox, and Astros have the 6 shakiest pens and either don't have a closer in place or the guy who is the "closer" is weak and unlikely to last all year, so I tried to grab a few "next in line for saves guys" and came up with Fields, Soria, Allen, and Strop.

I think there are several solid teams in this league. It also seems that the "hype breakout" guys keep climbing up the draft board....I'm having flashbacks to 2012 when folks were taking Eric Hosmer and Brett Lawrie in the second round....

Best of luck everyone....See you guys in Vegas next month

Funny, I saw Scherzer sitting there in late round 3 and you took him right in front of me. After that, I decided to take Posey at 3.11

C Posey
C d'Arnaud
1B C Davis
2B M Carpenter
3B D Wright
SS Asd Cabrera
MI Iglesias
CI B Belt
UT Markakis
OF A Godron
OF D Brown
OF A Jackson
OF C Yelich
OF Markakis

Bench: Zunino, Phegley; J Francisco, S Rodriguez; R Weeks, W Flores; Presley, Ethier, Dirks (OK, enough of Bench)

SP: C Lee
SP Wacha
SP Medlin
SP Lincecum
SP E Santana
SP H santiago
SP Mig A Gonzalez

RP N Jones
RP J Benoit

RP will need to work out: J Burton, Albuquerque, McGee, Delabar
P: Ventura, Heaney, Happ, Volquez and a couple more.

[Lunatic]

UT is Kelly Johnson not Markakis

[Deadheadz]

Funny, I saw Scherzer sitting there in late round 3 and you took him right in front of me. After that, I decided to take Posey at 3.11

Had Prince Fielder not been available to me at 2.4 I was ready and willing to take Scherzer then. You can imagine how great it felt to see Scherzer still there at 3.9 - I thought I had a chance to get all three guys! He should be a great piece of any team and good value for 3rd round.

[jaked2782]

Going into this draft I set my kds at 1,2,3,15,14,13... I knew that with all the talent and success that was signed up for this draft my only hope of not being run out of the room was to pick by one of the ends so I would have a better chance to stick to my gameplan and not be swayed by "runs"... So I ended up picking 14th and here is my team:

C Y. Molina
C J.P. Arenibia
1b Hosmer
2b Cano
3b Arenado
SS Castro
CI Ruf or Davidson
MI Profar
OF Harper
OF Kalhoun
OF Eaton
OF Stubbs or Blackmon
OF Ross
UT Blanks


SP Strasburg
SP Teheran
SP Corbin
SP Beachy
SP Nova
SP Dickey
SP Roark
RP Nathan
RP Reed

Bench

C Kottaras
C Stassi
1b Jon Singleton
2b Amarista
SS Dee Gordon
Ss Pedro Ciriaco
OF Andrew Lambo
OF Brian Bogusevic
OF Jd martinez
OF Joc Pederson
OF Gregory Palanco
UT Steve Pearce

SP Y. Petit
SP Wade Davis
SP Brett Anderson
SP Jake Arrieta
SP Eddie Butler
SP Jimmy Nelson
RP Jose Veras
RP Tyler Clippard
RP D. De La Rosa
RP Bret Cecil
RP Mujica
RP T. Scheppers


Overall I am pretty happy that I may actually have a chance to compete in this league, but I do have a few holes that hopefully will work themselves out during spring training or the first month or two of the season.. My original plan at 14 was to go b2b 5 tool OFs, but when Cano fell to 14 I had to take him and then backed him up with Harper.. Once that happened I focused on other areas besides OF until the 10-15 range considering I had a few targets I thought would be there. At the end of the draft and now looking back I think my OF is my weakest spot but if I can get lucky with one of my fringe guys, like Ross or Palanco (if he gets called up early enough) than I may be ok.. I think the strongest area of my team is pitching, both starters and closers since I have 3 starting closers to begin the season and plenty of next in line options to ride the carousel. I am intersted and looking forward to getting feedback on how I did and some areas of opportunity that I can work on for next time.. Thanks for the time folks and like everybody else has already said, What a great draft with such a great group of players!

[Deadheadz]

My projections for wins...

Darvish 20
Minor 18
Peavy 17
Ubaldo 15
Chen 15
Hudson 15
Alvarez 12
Skaggs 12
Turner 10

Wins 134 plus closers 6?

Bench of Archie Bradley, Danny Duffy, Charlie Morton, Hellickson and RPs

Not the worst staff...

[Bronx Yankees]

My projections for wins...

Darvish 20
Minor 18
Peavy 17
Ubaldo 15
Chen 15
Hudson 15
Alvarez 12
Skaggs 12
Turner 10

Wins 134 plus closers 6?

Bench of Archie Bradley, Danny Duffy, Charlie Morton, Hellickcon and RPs

Not the worst staff...

Sorry to say, but I think your wins projections are wildly optimistic. If forced to choose, I would take the "under" on every single one of them. Hopefully, Bradley and Duffy will make their starting rotations early in the season and help the back end of your staff.

Mike

[ToddZ]

My projections for wins...

Darvish 20
Minor 18
Peavy 17
Ubaldo 15
Chen 15
Hudson 15
Alvarez 12
Skaggs 12
Turner 10

Wins 134 plus closers 6?

Bench of Archie Bradley, Danny Duffy, Charlie Morton, Hellickcon and RPs

Not the worst staff...

One of the tenets of projection theory is to temper expectations and be both realistic and reasonable.

Only 6 pitchers had 17 or more wins last season. In 2012 it was only 10.

Only 14 had 15 or more last year with only 26 with 15 or more in 2012.

It's just unrealistic to expect 6 to tally 15 or more.

I'll set my over under at 101.

No need to defend your projections, they are what they are. Maybe we can revisit in October and compare.

[Deadheadz]

The only win total I think needs defending is Ubaldo. He could go back to the Rockies and win only 7. He could go to Seattle and win 15 if he's truly come back and plays the way his agent promises he will.

He's getting no love from general managers around the league for his behavior IMO and it wouldn't shock me to see him unsigned on opening day. But there's usually someone with too much money and too little patience so it wouldn't shock me either to see him get the money he's asking for or close to it.

Just like there's usually one (or more) wildcard in a 15 team fantasy league, there's usually one wildcard in a 30 team MLB.